| :-o |

| Keri Hilson f. Rick Ross - The Way You Love Me |

All I'm gonna say is, damn this video is raw as hell. The female portion of the internet is hating on Ms. Hilson's slutted out persona... but this clearly isn't for the ladies.

Pretty Girl Rock, this isn't. You won't hear any complaints out of me ;)

| the single life: issue twelve |

I'm not sure if I ever explained this, but all of the tracks I post are downloadable. 
Just click the down arrow and select 'Download'. =)

---

// Girl Unit - Wut //

 

Who knew one simple word and a bunch of chopped up gibberish could be the glue that binds? British dubstep wiz Girl Unit has crafted an absolute thriller with his new single, "Wut." The 7-minute track takes a little while to get its footing, but hits impressive highs at many points. Boasting some life-altering bass knocks and an infectious vocal samples, "Wut" is a triumph for it's marvelous progression and attention to detail. Don't sleep on the budget album artwork, this thing is a slice of epic worth listening through.

 // Girls - Heartbreaker //

 

San-Franciscan guitar pop outfit Girls released a nice little LP last year to a rather warm reception. Favourable reviews followed, and I can personally attest that a couple of the singles are real keepers. "Heartbreaker" is off their new Broken Dreams Club EP, their first work since the success of last year's Album. The bright tone of the song is balanced by frontman Christopher Owens' melancholic lyrics about love lost. In a weird way, this duality is pretty satisfying. Broken Dreams Club is worth the pickup, btw.

 // Black Eyed Peas - Do It Like This! //

 

It's odd to have BEP on this side of the Single Life/BRB fence, but here it is. "Do It Like This!" does a bit of a Jekyll & Hyde. The first half of the track is hype despite the fact that most of the lyrics are pretty weak. But this is pop, so whatever. The second half is where the track dies a slow, tragic death. It's basically a really bad ripoff of Benny Benassi. (That's why I've only posted the part I like.) The full version can be heard here. Whether you like it or not, it's destined for the clubs.

// Dr. Dre f. Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg & Akon - Kush //

 


Years of waiting, delays, and excuses later... the King of the West Coast is readying his return to the spotlight. After a series of clumsy leaks (and subsequent rants), Dr. Dre gets official with the release of yet another chronic-boasting street anthem. Thumping bass? Check. Vintage Dre piano loops? Check. Snoop and Nate Dogg in tow? Check. Yep, it's a real Dre joint. Amen to the return of one of the best to ever do it.

| hella dope |

The skinny: A streetwear brand called dope rounded up a few up and coming emcees for a little cypher action. I think the order is something like this: (Il Duce,  Young Gage, Luke St. John, AR, Two Feet, LG, and Ronny My) These guys are actually pretty legit!

I think what makes goods cyphers so impressive is that the guys are pretty much one-taking their verses. It's pretty clear these kinds of cyphers aren't done off the top of the dome, but seeing these guys on beast mode is something special. I wonder how many - if any - of these hip hop hopefuls will make the jump to primetime in the future.... props to 2dopeboyz

| all world |

// Girl Talk - All Day //

The cult of Girl Talk is smiling today. He's spent the day breaking the internet, and the hype will only grow. For the foreseeable future, party-goers will find themselves either marking hard every time All Day comes on, or they'll be asking their friends, "WHO IS THIS?! IT'S FUCKING AWESOME!"

We should really download from Illegal Art and give them the traffic stats, but their servers are on meltdown. If you can't wait, check the links below. The review's on the way. ;)

// DL //    // Torrent //

| hold my hand, dude |

// Michael Jackson w/ Akon - Hold My Hand //

Here is the final mastered copy of the duet between MJ and Akon which actually leaked almost two years ago. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet, but I do know that it's a million times better than that thing by T-Pain... off the upcoming album, MICHAEL, which borrows the 2Pac formula and boasts 10 never-heard-before tracks from the late King of Pop. Other rumoured collaborators include 50 Cent (ugh...) and Lenny Kravitz. Yippee!

| bright lights ahead |

// J. Cole -  Friday Night Lights //

4.75 out of 5

"What good is it being The One when you're the only one who knows it?"

Not a lot of people know who J. Cole is. (Actually, it's come to my attention recently that a lot of people still don't even know who Kid Cudi is. Hmm.) The hip-hop scene is ever-expanding, encroaching on pop music territory more and more every day. It's busy, and it's not always easy to know who to dedicate your iPod space to. Consider this as your notice that J. Cole is a sure bet for those spare MB's.

Both rappers and producers alike are faced with the challenge of keeping up with trends while maintaining a distinctive sound. It's a tall order establishing a stable career in one field.  Becoming a serious double-threat as a rapper and producer is a whole other story. Even amongst the most successful rappers or producers, only a select few can rightfully claim success at both. Did anyone ever laud Timbaland or Diddy as great rappers? How about Eminem's mediocrity behind the boards?

That brings us to the story of J. Cole. I really do think he just might be the next one to do it big. His body of work to-date suggests that it's only a matter of time before he becomes a household name. Just to show you how much respect he's getting these days: Kanye West delayed a G.O.O.D. Friday drop a whole day because Cole wasn't done recording his verse for the track. Devout fans were vocal when Kanye failed to deliver by midnight Friday, but willingly bided their time once they learned that Cole would be featured on the track. It's a special kind of power, especially so early in his career.

The November 12th release of his 3rd official mixtape, Friday Night Lights, marks his first since signing to Jay-Z's Roc Nation stable. Cole produced most of the tape, getting a helping hand on only a few tracks. The overall sound is polished without feeling too shiny or canned. Casual listeners will be encouraged that Cole's beats aren't too raw. On the whole, Friday Night Lights is fair and shouldn't alienate hip-hop heads nor those who are just looking for a reasonably easy listen.

Lyrically, J. Cole is bold and confident. Every word is spoken with purpose, leaving little space for unnecessary filler. Perhaps what impresses me most is his seemingly limitless (content) range. His subject matter touchs on things that we all know and can expect from a rap song, but he manages to delivery it in a way that makes us want to hear it all again anyway. It's undeniable: he's got that fire in everything he spits. Even in his half-sung or mellow flows, there's a sense of real work being put in.

I can't name a favourite track, as each one is just too good to pass up on. I'll toss up "In The Morning" (f. Drake) and "See World" as just two (previously unheard) must-haves.

Summary: If this was a major-label release, it would easily stand up to the best albums out on the market right now. Get your hands on this, and then pass the word to your friends. Do you want to be the guy who found out about Kanye only after Late Registration dropped? This is your chance to get in before the next proverbial College Dropout hits. It won't be long before people all know that J. Cole is The Truth, The One, or whatever else you want to call him.

// Download //

// Torrent //

| the single life: issue eleven |

left you single-less for a while, so here's a drop of the best of what I've come across in the last month or so (in no particular order).

---

// Kanye West f. John Legend & Chris Rock - Blame Game //

 

News broke today that Rolling Stone has awarded Kanye West's upcoming fifth album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, a rare 5-star rating. Remarkable enough as it is, this actually marks the second time Kanye has achieved the coveted perfect score from the influential magazine (the first time being Late Registration). While he has hyped the entire album as a comprehensive work of art, Yeezy fingered "Blame Game" as his favourite track off the album. Having had this on repeat for most of the night thus far, I can attest that the John Legend- and Chris Rock-assisted track just might be Fantasy's crown jewel. As blasphemous as it may be, I've removed Chris Rock's portion of the song for this post (sorry 'Ye, but I'm just not feelin' this part). If you're curious, the full version can be heard here. November 22nd, guys... the official launch of Kanye's next Grammy season.

 // Wiz Khalifa - Black and Yellow //

Though Pittsburgh isn't known as a hip-hop hotbed, Wiz Khalifa could be the key to putting the city on the map. Since the 23-year-old MC put out "Black and Yellow" in early September, he's been toasted as the man who brought the Steel City a new anthem. Steelers, Penguins and Pirates fans alike are getting up every time the track hits the speakers. It's early to say if he's starbound, but damnit this song is really catchy. Kind of makes me wish we could unify all of our sports teams under one song title too...

 

// Lloyd Banks f. Swizz Beatz, Kanye West, Ryan Leslie, Fabolous & Pusha T - Start It Up RMX //

 

HFM2 will easily be Banks' most anticipated album since 2004's original Hunger For More. Mostly due to the surprising heat he got for "Beamer, Benz or Bentley," The G-Unit teamster is taking another shot at superstardom. It helps when you have one of those stacked tracks of the year under your belt. Phenomenal amount of talent coming together on one track = one of the best rap joints of the year. Note: Pusha's verse was originally a separate freestyle, but I added it myself. There's another mix out there like it, but it has DJ tags. Thankfully, I don't yell my name over simple mixes that I make. Enjoy!

// J. Cole - Before I'm Gone //

All before J. Cole drops his first studio album, the Roc Nation rookie of the year is slated to release a highly-anticipated mixtape featuring a number of his unreleased tracks and street singles. The soulful first single, "Before I'm Gone," will surely help build his reputation as the new truth in hip-hop. By all accounts, the guy does it all. He writes, raps, produces, and even does a little singing here and there. Don't sleep on this superstar in the making.

| bowdown |

Kanye West and recent G.O.O.D. signee Pusha T took over Hot 97 w/ Funkmaster Flex this week and treated listeners to a candid interview and a scorching freestyle set. The blogs are on fire, and for good reason. Pusha's everything is on a hundred thousand trillion, and I'm glad because I've been nut-hugging him ever since I heard "Grindin."

Push paid Kanye lip service by introducing him as the best rapper in the world, but it ain't hard to tell that his wordplay, pacing and delivery are simply in another league. (Dare I say on Eminem's level?) Just watch Kanye's reaction after Pusha's first verse: there aren't too many MC's that would want to follow that up. "Wow" is right.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the freestyle that has the net abuzz. I'm out of words for this. Yeeeuck..

| bad, real bad: Do We Miss MJ Yet? |

 

Why, oh why, would the legendary Quincy Jones risk one of his greatest hits with T-fucking-Pain and also-ran Robin Thicke? "P.Y.T." is my favourite MJ tune. It's better than "Thriller." Better than "Beat It." I'd even put it above "Human Nature," which I love to no end. I have no doubt that The King of Pop is doing a spinning nut grab in his grave this very minute. So imagine my motivation to make this my second Bad, Real Bad post in the last 12 hours.

My heart just sank hearing T-Pain's modulated runs paint a shit streak across the song's iconic opening guitar riffs. I can't even begin to describe how much my hate juices are brewing for this remake. This is about as egregious as asking Flo-Rida to cover "Juicy."  Can you imagine how awful that would be? This is worse.

The music industry needs to adopt a system to retire certain songs. Just like how players in the NHL can ever wear No. 99, there are just some songs that should never be touched again. You're messing with greatness here, Teddy! Nobody wants to hear this shit. And those who do (aka teens and younger) don't get a vote because they don't know what classic music is. Shit, I'm 26 and even I can admit I've barely scratched the surface when it comes to anything pre-1990.

Now almost an hour later, I've just pushed the play button for the 7th or 8th time and just realized that I think I would rather listen to the house band on Dancing With The Stars. I would even go so far as to say I'd rather put on my Beats headphones and blast Fergie Live. (Please click this link. It's effin' deadly.) Seriously though, I don't think I could possibly stress any more how badly this song is harshing my ears.

Quincy Jones has done some great things in his time - things that I could only dream to accomplish. My gripe here is: it's one thing if this is a one-off, but it's a whole album of this stuff! Check out this tracklisting. Save for a few names, this album is chock-full of people who have no business even breathing near these songs. It's a poorly-disguised money grab, and it makes me want to download a bunch of Quincy Jones songs and rip him off for even trying to get me to go out and buy this CD.

I didn't cry when MJ died. I think tonight was the first time I really actually missed him.

| bad, real bad: KING HAMMER |

I normally wouldn't bother writing about some stupid rap beef, but this one is so bad that it's good. Those of us following Kanye West's streak of Friday-night dominance will have heard Jay-Z's killer line about MC Hammer on "So Appalled." Enraged, MC Hammer KING HAMMER took to Twitter to announce his plans to fire back at Hov. And so it is: November 1st, 2010, will go down in history as the day the 48 year-old Hammer took a futile swing at one of rap's all-time titans. And missed.

This track accomplishes little more than a fart in a windstorm. It's another painful reminder why faded stars should stay faded. You had hits and spawned an iconic Halloween outfit or two... but PLEASE, mighty King Hammer, never step into a booth ever again.

Watch below if you want to see Hammer train MMA, attempt dance moves way too hard for him, and generally move his hands way more than he needs to. Oh yeah, he also baptizes(!) a Jay-Z lookalike. Oh, the badness!